Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways reported Wednesday a 2004 net profit of 4.42 billion Hong Kong dollars (567 million US dollars), more than triple the 1.3 billion dollars posted in a disastrous SARS-hit 2003.
Analysts had expected the company to report net profit of 4.07 billion Hong Kong dollars. The figures compare well with the 2002 net profit of 3.98 billion dollars after 2003 suffered from the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) which virtually halted regional air travel at one stage.
The airline said improved world and Hong Kong economies were the main drivers for growth.
It said it carried a record 13.66 million passengers and 972,416 tonnes of cargo, with revenues rising 32.1 percent to 39.07 billion dollars.
The airline said 2004 would have been its best year ever had there not been a sharp rise in the price of fuel, which accounted for 23.9 percent of total operating costs, up from 19.8 percent in 2003.
Looking ahead, company Chairman David Turnbull cautioned: "Persistently high fuel prices along with greater regional and long haul competition will place further pressure on us to improve productivity and reduce unit costs.
"The aviation business often sees sharp ups and downs yet we remain focused on maintaining profitable growth and are optimistic over our future."
Throughout 2004, the company saw strong demand from both business and leisure travellers with passenger capacity rising 24.9 percent over 2003.
This increase, combined with higher yields, contributed to a passegner revenue record of 26.4 billion dollars, it said.
The airline also set a new cargo revenue record of 10.5 billion dollars, boosted by the continued growth in demand from Europe, Japan and the United States for goods manufactured in mainland China.
During the year, the airline extended its lucrative Chinese mainland network with the introduction of a daily service to Beijing and in early 2005 the launch of new passenger service to Xiamen and freighter service to Shanghai.
The company said it will continue to expand its network and fleet.